I had such a blast last week as last week was one of the biggest bookish events of the year. BookExpo, once titled BEA (BookExpo of America), takes place in the Javits Convention Center in New York City every year around the last week of May. For the entire week, the city comes alive with bookish events, mostly free: signings, meet and greets, and more.

I haven’t been to the event in two years but I’ve been saving up some money and decided to treat myself with a week-long trip to the city. I am so incredibly grateful that I was able to participate in BookExpo and can not wait to see what next year will bring. Without further ado, here’s my recap of the fun-filled week:

Bloomsbury Tour

Blogbound

BookExpo Day 1

BookExpo Day 2

BEA Countdown started off on Tuesday with the top five books I'm most excited for and Wednesday was the top four authors I can't wait to see.  Yesterday I updated you on three bookish events I will be attending next week.   Today, if it's you're first time going to NYC, you seriously need to check out these bookstores.  They are must sees for any book-lover who is going to NYC.

Strand
What book lover wouldn't love 18 miles of bookshelves?  At least four floors of lovely floor to ceiling bookshelves and books piled everywhere.  Plus, they sell used and new books which means discounted prices which is always the best!

BEA Countdown started off on Tuesday with the top five books I'm most excited for and Wednesday was the top four authors I can't wait to see.  Well today, it will be the three bookish events I am attending during BEA week.  Will you be there?

Teen Author Carnival

BEA Countdown started off yesterday with the top five books I'm most excited for and today, it will be the top 4 authors I am most excited to see at BEA.  This list was very difficult to make because I love seeing so many awesome authors.  I picked from my list of favorite authors, but even then- it was still hard.  Four is such a random number, but here we go:

Barry Lyga
Best Known for:
The Mortal Instruments series

Libba Bray
Best Known for:
Gemma Doyle trilogy
Going Bovine 

Melissa Marr
Best Known for:
Wicked Lovely series

Can't wait for BEA!  Stay tuned for more tomorrow, where I am counting down the days until I leave for New York City to go to BEA!

She’s searching for answers to her past. They’re hunting her to save their future.
World War III has left the world ravaged by nuclear radiation. A lucky few escaped to the Alaskan wilderness. They've survived for the last thirty years by living off the land, being one with nature, and hiding from whoever else might still be out there.
At least, this is what Juneau has been told her entire life.
When Juneau returns from a hunting trip to discover that everyone in her clan has vanished, she sets off to find them. Leaving the boundaries of their land for the very first time, she learns something horrifying: There never was a war. Cities were never destroyed. The world is intact. Everything was a lie.
Now Juneau is adrift in a modern-day world she never knew existed. But while she's trying to find a way to rescue her friends and family, someone else is looking for her. Someone who knows the extraordinary truth about the secrets of her past. --Goodreads

Bestselling author of the Wicked Lovely books Melissa Marr’s first contemporary YA novel is a twisted southern gothic tale of obsession, romance, and murder. A killer is obsessed with Eva Tilling. Can she stop him, or will he claim her?
When Eva Tilling wakes up in the hospital, she’s confused—who in her sleepy little North Carolina town could have hit her with their car? And why? But before she can consider the question, she finds that she’s awoken with a strange new skill: the ability to foresee people’s deaths when they touch her. While she is recovering from the hit-and-run, Nate, an old flame, reappears, and the two must traverse their rocky past as they figure out how to use Eva’s power to keep her friends—and themselves—alive. But while Eva and Nate grow closer, the killer grows increasingly frantic in his attempt to get to Eva.
For the first time, New York Times bestselling author Melissa Marr has applied her extraordinary talent to contemporary realism. Chilling twists, unrequited obsession, and high-stakes romance drive this Gothic, racy thriller—a story of small-town oppression and salvation. Melissa’s fans, and every YA reader, will find its wild ride enthralling.--Goodreads

The romantic story of a girl who gets plucked from obscurity to star in the next major feature film franchise based on a book and the ensuing love triangles she gets entangled in on—-and off screen. 
Meet Paige Townsen, Rainer Devon, and Jordan Wilder…
When Paige Townsen, a young unknown, gets cast in the movie adaptation of a blockbuster book series, her life changes practically overnight. Within a month, Paige has traded the quiet streets of her hometown for a crowded movie set on the shores of Maui, and is spending quality time with her co-star Rainer Devon, one of People’s Sexiest Men Alive. But when troubled star Jordan Wilder lands the role of the other point in the movie’s famous love triangle, Paige’s crazy new life gets even crazier.
In this coming-of-age romance inspired by the kind of celeb hookups that get clever nicknames and a million page views, Paige must figure out who she is – and who she wants – while the whole world watches.--Goodreads

Jazz Dent has been shot and left to die in New York City. His girlfriend Connie is in the clutches of Jazz's serial killer father, Billy. And his best friend Howie is bleeding to death on the floor of Jazz's own home in tiny Lobo's Nod. Somehow, these three must rise above the horrors their lives have become and find a way to come together in pursuit of Billy. But then Jazz crosses a line he's never crossed before, and soon the entire country is wondering: "Like father, like son?" Who is the true monster?The chase is on, and beyond Billy there lurks something much, much worse. Prepare to meet...the Crow King.--Goodreads

This twisty, breathless cat-and-mouse thrill ride, told in the second person, follows a girl with amnesia in present-day Los Angeles who is being pursued by mysterious and terrifying assailants.
A girl wakes up on the train tracks, a subway car barreling down on her. With only minutes to react, she hunches down and the train speeds over her. She doesn’t remember her name, where she is, or how she got there. She has a tattoo on the inside of her right wrist of a blackbird inside a box, letters and numbers printed just below: FNV02198. There is only one thing she knows for sure: people are trying to kill her. 
On the run for her life, she tries to untangle who she is and what happened to the girl she used to be. Nothing and no one are what they appear to be. But the truth is more disturbing than she ever imagined. 
The Maze Runner series meets Code Name Verity, Blackbird is relentless and action-packed, filled with surprising twists.--Goodreads

It’s officially summertime!  Do you know what that means?  That means plenty of things.  Nice weather.  No classes.  Plenty of reading time.  Time on the beach- which would be awesome if I really had a beach to go to but since there’s nothing for miles, we’ll have to make due to my back yard.  There are some downsides to summertime like summer jobs and daily chores but let’s focus on the good stuff.  Because, hey, my semester is over.  Summer is beginning and I want to start it off with a bang!

I know it's been a while but I wanted to tell you about my time at BEA.  I've been busy these past two weeks; after BEA, I got the opportunity to attend ColossalCon, which is an anime convention.  I'll be telling you all about my first anime convention, sometime next week but let's talk books.

Wednesday:

It was the Book Bloggers Con and it was so much fun!  I met two awesome people, Penelope from The Reading Fever and Sierra from Dear, Restless Reader.  Seriously, go check out their sites because they are fantastic!  We listened to a bunch of panels about book blogging and it was interesting to hear about where the publishing industry is going and how blogging is going to be a part of it.

Favorite Part of the Day:
I got to meet Mari Mancusi, author of Boys that Bite and her soon-to-be-released Scorched.  I've loved her books for years and it was such a dream come true to meet her.  She was lovely and I was even lucky enough to get some of my books signed by her.

Thursday:
It was the first official day of BEA and, this time around, I felt like I was ready.  I had gone last year and was so confused about how everything was going to work.  No matter how many things I read up on BEA, I felt I was never truly ready to attend.  This year, I knew what to expect and it was much less scary.  Also, unlike last year, I networked with a lot more people.  I got to meet people from different booths and handed my card out to anyone who was interested.  It was fantastic!

Favorite Part of the Day:
Ever since I've read Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, I've wanted to read more from her.  I was able to get a copy of The Signature of All Things, which I can't wait to dive into.

Friday:

Favorite Part of the Day:
I haven't read Code Name Verity yet but knowing that the companion novel is full of buzz right now, I can't wait to see what's in store for me.  I was able to get a copy of Rose Under Fire!

Saturday:
My mother joined me as a Power Reader and we braved the show floor together, while everyone scrambled around on the last day.  Since she had a blast at BEA, I am thinking of having her join me on The Bucket List.  What do you think, do you want another reviewer on The Bucket List?

Favorite Part of the Day:
Since this was a slow day, I was able to go back to the booths and talk with them about my website and the industry.  It was sad for BEA to end but there is always next year.

Now the part where I list the books I got:
Sorry that I don't have a video of my books this year.  My camera died shortly after my anime convention, and I haven't had time to hunt down someone else's.  Also, I'm missing my list of books that I received on Saturday but here's what I got the rest of the BEA week:

At BEA:

Well, now I want to know what happens next, of course! I need more than a measly promo for the next book, I NEED TO READ IT! But whatever Roth (sticks tounge out). I’m so glad Tris and Tobias made it through because I would have died if one had to end up killing the other. By the way, I knew Tobias was going to pull the corny, “I love you” line to Tris because every single other book like that has this happen when the love interest survives. So, to that I say, enjoy this:
Thanks Gina for recommending this book to me, and I had a lot of fun with the discussion! Thanks to those who kept up with the book discussion, I hope you enjoyed, and I hope you also enjoyed your reading of Divergent. I hope you read it, if you didn’t, please go borrow it from someone or buy it, it is DEFINITELY WORTH IT. Anyway, hope you enjoyed, and now I exit stage left!






You can read my full review on Divergent by Veronica Roth HERE.  I loved reading Divergent with all of you and hope we can read another book together soon!

Pia has grown up in a secret laboratory hidden deep in the Amazon rain forest. She was raised by a team of scientists who have created her to be the start of a new immortal race. But on the night of her seventeenth birthday, Pia discovers a hole in the electric fence that surrounds her sterile home—and sneaks outside the compound for the first time in her life.
Free in the jungle, Pia meets Eio, a boy from a nearby village. Together, they embark on a race against time to discover the truth about Pia’s origin—a truth with deadly consequences that will change their lives forever.
Origin is a beautifully told, shocking new way to look at an age-old desire: to live forever, no matter the cost. This is a supremely compelling debut novel that blends the awakening romance of Matched with the mystery and jungle conspiracy of Lost. --Goodreads

This book sounds fantastic: the book itself makes me want to go out and buy it, even though the release date is not until September 4.  The book trailer: not so much.  The beginning starts out okay, with the occasional shot of a fake studio forest that looks too green, and a waking-up girl that looks like she was faking sleep the entire time.  It has some nice shot at the pool, liking the symmetry there but since I haven't read the book and the trailer is not telling me, I have no clue why we are brought in the forest and then at some pool (the only clue I got was from the summary.  Well, then it only gets CHEESY from here on out.  I snickered at the little black lines, a literal form of censorship, but I flat out laughed at this Tarzan-like character.  Queue the running and jumping in each other's arms music, really this was too much.

Does this trailer make you want to buy the book?  If I had just seen the trailer, I would have never even looked for the books in stores.  What do you think of this trailer?

This post probably should have been written earlier.  However, due to college papers and finals week, I did not get to it until now.  BEA is less than a month away and I will be going!

Side note: Finals week is over and summer break is now a go!  (Yes, you can probably tell that I just spent the last three hours watching a spy movie!)

Okay, that being said, I want to let you all know that I will be attending BEA.  For those of you who do not know what BEA is, check out their website HERE.  BEA, this year, is a conference held at the Javits Center in New York City.  This event is being held from June 5th to June 7th, however I will be there the whole week.  That's right, this small-town, farm girl is going to the city for a week!  I am super excited and super nervous and if you are going, make sure you contact me so we can hang out.  You can find my email HERE. I will also be spending time with my awesome blogging friend, Jenna, from Coffee, Books, and Me.  Can't wait, can't wait, can't wait!

Oh and guess what?  I am still a bit star struck about all the huge names that are going to be at BEA.  I am actually attending the BEA book breakfast with best-selling author, John Green, and actor and soon-to-be debut author, Chris Colfer.  That are only two names that I can barely breathe when I think about being in the same room with them.  Not to mention, BEA has some awesome author signing goings-on including my personal-favorites, Melissa Marr, Libba Bray, Ellen Hopkins, Becca Fitzpatrick, and Leah Clifford to name a few.  I have never been to an author signing and to be in the same room as these awesome people is going to be... well, awesome!  I am very worried that I will go all fan-girl on them, but I will try my best.  

This will be my first time going ever and I have heard from lots of people that it is a blast.  A huge component that everyone suggested was to have some business cards on hand to give out to people at the conference.  So I just wanted to show off the final product to you, guys.  How do you like them?

If you are going to BEA, I hope to see you there!  For anyone who has been there before, do you have any tips for me and other people who may be going for their first time?